How does Lord Capulet react to Juliet’s
Refusal
In Act 3 Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet have spent the night together and they are in love, meanwhile lady Capulet tells Juliet that she will be marrying Paris next week, hearing this Juliet refuses and says to her mother that she will never make a happy bride if she were to marry Paris; dramatic irony is used here by Shakespeare as the audience know the reason behind why Juliet is refusing to marry Paris, however Lady Capulet is unaware of why she is saying this.
Lord Capulet enters the scene, and is surprised seeing when he sees his daughter crying; at first he thinks that she is crying due to the loss of Tybalt as he says “How now! A conduit, girl? What, still in tears?” This quote shows Lord Capulet asking Juliet why she is crying, this is used by Shakespeare for dramatic irony once again as it shows to the audience Lord Capulet is confused and also it tells about his characteristics as he is not mourning over the death of his nephew, highlighting the fact the he is cold hearted yet he loves his daughter. Lord Capulet had told Paris that he shall marry Juliet, therefore it shows that Capulets were living amongst a patriarchal society whereby the man of the house takes most of the decisions, and this shows that Lord Capulet was a very traditional man. This is shown when he asks lady Capulet, “Have you deliver’d to her our decree?” This tells the audience that lord Capulet was a very demanding character after he had made his decisions; he uses the word ‘Decree’ meaning that Juliet has no say in this as it is her parents command. This is effective as it tells the audience that Lord Capulet is a powerful figure as he has control over his wife and daughter which is expected in an Elizabethan society. After hearing that Juliet has refused to marry Paris, lord Capulet doubts the trust he once had on his daughter. This highlighted in the amount of questions he asks Juliet, for example “doth she not give us thanks?” This is just one of the many questions he uses in verses 141 to 145, as he doesn’t understand why Juliet is refusing to marry Paris. This tells the audience that he is confused why Juliet who is normally subservient to whatever he has to say. Shakespeare uses free verse from verse 141 to 145 to show that Capulet is frustrated however he is asking questions more than he shouts as he still trusts Juliet to agree to his decree. This is effective as it tells the audience that Capulet does love his daughter and he does try to somewhat give her independence.
This leads me onto my next point; after hearing Juliet’s refusal from his own ears Capulet becomes assured that Juliet has became disobedient and therefore he gets angry and losses his control. This is proved in Capulet’s response when he utters “Mistress Minion, you.” Due to the loss of control he begins to degrade her as he is angry with her choice, the use of harsh language becomes very common in the verses 149 to 157 as he losing his temper very fast, he uses the word “fettle” when commanding her to get married next Thursday. Fettle is normally referred to horses and Lord Capulet tells her that he can groom her to what he wants, therefore telling Juliet she will definitely get married to Paris. In verse 155 Shakespeare puts emphasis on the word ‘drag’ as he is telling the audience that he believes that Juliet has become disobedient, this is done for effect as is shows the audience once again that Capulet believes Juliet to be his property. Shakespeare also emphasis Lord Capulet’s rage by uses a variety of techniques such as the use of harsh vocabulary, short sentences and free verses; this was Shakespeare’s way of reflecting the mood of the character, in this case anger.
Once again lord Capulet puts emphasis on how he has control over everything